LOVE, not Hate

My heart is saddened by the amount of hate that is in this world. If people only knew how much God truly loved them and how much He wants us to love others so we too are reflecting His love! Hatred comes from the pits of hell. Yes, there is a hell and yes, there is a real devil who is out to destroy people, relationships, and yes, even communities, countries and governments. We need to love one another and come together regardless of our differences. Just because you don't agree with someone doesn't mean you should hate them or hurt them. It's our diversity that makes us beautiful human beings. It's our uniqueness that God uses for His purpose... and, we all have one, a purpose! We should take our differences and work together to better mankind.

What we need to be reminded of is that the bible is very clear what is acceptable in His sight. What He expects from us and how He wants us to behave and act. Matthew 22:37- 40 says… Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I want you to think about something; do you really think if you truly made Jesus Lord of your life and loved God that you could hurt others? Let’s look at the commandments and let’s see what LOVE looks like…

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)

1. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (= Bondage, Slavery) out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me". - What are you placing as a God in your life? Addiction, money, pornography, hatred, self, etc.?

2. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."  - Anything that tries and takes the place of Him is a false God. If you love Him… He says you will keep His commandments and put Him first. Because of that He will show mercy to you and me and everyone who lives by His ways!

3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." - WOW… every say JC or GD? OMG? God? How about talk about Him, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Cross with no or little significance or respect? God is to be Worshipped, Adored, Respected, Loved, and Praised… each and every time you talk of Him or think of Him.

4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." - OK… are you keeping the 7th day Holy? What does Holy mean anyway? It means to set apart. God blessed it and sanctified it. Are you going to church or setting time to worship and to learn more about Him? Spending quality time with Him? Are you resting your mind and body to prepare you for the work week ahead? Are you filling your spirit to prepare you for the battles that may occur during that week coming up? And, more importantly, are you resting in Him? Trusting as you do as He ask, He will be the one to provide your every need according to His word.

5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” -   Hummm… honoring your father and mother? How about those in authority? Showing the respect that is due to them? Admire, appreciate, obey?

6. "You shall not murder.” - The thing here with this commandment, Jesus says that murder begins first in the heart. In Matthew 21, it says that if you are angry at your brother without cause that you will be in danger of judgment. Murder is more than killing someone; it’s anger, hatred and out to destroy.

7. “You shall not commit adultery.” - But I say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” - Matt. 5:28… I think this scripture says it all.

8. "You shall not steal” - This just doesn’t mean theft as in robbing someone’s home or a store. How about taking a pen or paper for personal use from your employer, leaving work early or coming in late (stealing time). It’s taking something that is not yours.

9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - Lying, spreading rumors, slander!

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbors wife, nor his male servant, nor female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” - Basically, lusting after or envying for something or someone that is NOT yours! Wanting what belongs to someone else.

We NEED a Savior! And that is what Jesus is! He died so we could have victory over the law. Do you not think if we walked in God and walked in His Love that we would not do anything to hurt others? The 10 commandments are all about LOVE! God didn’t give them to us to hurt us, He gave them to us because He loved us! When Jesus came, He gave us the command to love God and love others and that ALL the laws would be completed in them! OUR GOD IS AWESOME! You see, IF we truly LOVE, biblical LOVE, AGAPE LOVE…We CAN’T commit them! We would not want to!

Walking in love is about others minded, not selfish desires or ambitions. Yes, God gave us desires. Yes, God gave us ambition. But, we are to give those desires and ambitions to Him, lay them at the cross and trust Him. As we listen to Him to guide our every step and as we trust in Him, He will see to it that the fruition of our purpose unfolds in our lives!

It’s pretty cool to know that our God, creator of the universe, heavenly Father, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, the Author and finisher of our faith, the Alpha and the Omega, has us in the palm of His hands and that He gave us instruction on how to live a life full of HIS LOVE, HIS PEACE AND BE FILLED WITH HIS JOY!

So, next time you want to walk in hate towards another, remember that Jesus first laid His life down for you so you in turn could lay your life down for another. Don’t worry about the differences… lay those at Jesus’ feet, pray for your enemies and allow God to do His job of changing the cold hearts of men, to convict them of what they are doing wrong, the very things that are against His word and allow Him to speak life into them! Your job is to LOVE and to PRAY and to be a Godly example!

Until next time,

Kim